Authorities in Mexico found a car in which a 36-year-old man from Hamilton, Ohio, was traveling when he went missing in the country late last year, according to authorities.
The car in which José Gutiérrez was traveling was found earlier this week in Zacatecas, a city in central Mexico, riddled with bullet holes and a burial site nearby, the Zacatecas Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
The body of a man between the ages of approximately 20 and 35 was also found along with the car, according to the attorney general. It was unclear where exactly the man’s body was found in relation to the car.
Gutiérrez disappeared in Mexico in December 2022 while visiting his fiancée, Daniela Pichardo, in Mexico, an NBC affiliate. wlwt informed. He was last seen having dinner with Pichardo, his sister and his cousin on Christmas Day.
According to a preliminary forensic analysis, four bodies were found at the burial site near Gutierrez’s car, three women and one man, the attorney general’s office said.
Gutiérrez, an architect, is an active member of his community, according to local officials.
«José was not only a resident of Hamilton, but he played an active role in improving the community,» said Brandon Saurber, Hamilton’s director of neighborhoods. «An architect by trade, José served as a volunteer board member on the city’s Architectural Design Review Board (ADRB). Mr. Gutierrez was passionate about historic preservation and was actively restoring a historic home in the Jefferson neighborhood from the city».
Hamilton planning director Liz Hayden, who worked closely with Gutierrez, said that although she worked at an architecture firm an hour away, she found time to spend on the board.
“Planning Department staff and fellow board members have been praying for him, his peers and their families,” he said.
Gutierrez was working for Champlin Architecture at the time of her disappearance, a company spokesperson confirmed by phone.
“We are praying for José’s safe return home,” Hamilton Mayor Pat Moeller told NBC News. «The most recent news does not appear to be positive.»
Antonio Planas contributed.